BRITISH FOOD & COOKING

Those who make light of and disparage the value of the British contribution to cooking would do well to remember Dover sole, York ham, Finnan haddock, smoked Scottish salmon, Stilton, Cheddar, Caerphilly and numerous other cheeses, Dundee marmalade, Earl Grey tea, Worcestershire sauce, chutneys, Cumberland sauce, Mulligatawny, trifles and fools, numerous puddings, Cornish Pasties, Hot Cross Buns, Chelsea Buns, crumpets, scones, cock-a-leekie, and don't forget single malt whisky, and British ales and stouts. Imagine a world without them!!!!!

There are over 9,000 Indian restaurants in Great Britain. (2009)

For those who poke fun at "English cuisine", imagine the perfect cup of tea accompanied by scones, with clotted cream and strawberry jam, a juicy slice of beef with a dollop of strong horseradish, or the perfect piece of Scottish smoked salmon, and you just may find your mouth watering at the thought of what the British have brought to the table.

Yorkshire pudding is a British specialty. A batter, similar to that used for popovers, is poured into a shallow pan containing the fat from cooked roast beef, and cooked in the oven. Originally, the batter was placed in a pan beneath the roast to catch the drippings while it cooked.

Stargazy pie. This is a fish pie of Cornish origin. It is made with the fishes' heads sticking out of the crust all round the rim, and presumably takes its name from their appearance of gazing skywards. In her Observer Guide to British Cookery (1984) Jane Grigson notes that 'it is a specialty of Mousehole where they make it on 23 December every year, Tom Bawcock's Eve, in memory of the fisherman who saved the town from a hungry Christmas one stormy winter.'

Hot Pot is a British stew (originating in the mid 19th century) of mutton or beef layered with vegetables and finally potatoes, and cooked in a deep covered pot on the stove or in the oven. One of the more famous varieties is Lancashire Hot Pot, with mutton, lamb kidneys, onions, potatoes (and sometimes oysters). Frequently served with red cabbage.

One of the earliest references we have to British 'chips' (French Fries in the U.S.) is in Charles Dicken's 'Tale of Two Cities' (1859): "husky chips of potatoes, fried with some reluctant drops of oil."

Archaeological evidence indicates that Britons were milking cows at least 6,000 years ago.